


Heartstrings

by colorthefall



Category: Over the Garden Wall
Genre: Biting, Blood, F/M, I feel like these tags are very misleading, It's squeaky clean don't worry, Poetic Bee - Freeform, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 23:39:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5984941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colorthefall/pseuds/colorthefall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was too determined to be with her, and to feel everything she was feeling.  When he set his heart toward something, there was no escaping becoming entangled in its strings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartstrings

As the summer sun melted into a puddle of red on the horizon line, leaving behind a blackened sky, Wirt’s heart did the same; dripping down into his gut to join the rest of his sanity. All his feelings festered there just beneath his skin, tinging it the same shade of pink as the corsage pinned to his blazer; he had misplaced its box, and wanted to refrain from putting it into his pocket and crushing it before he could give it to _her..._

… Sara.

Oh, _Sara;_ the one who had captured his heart so many sunsets ago, when she was barely old enough to know how to hold it. But she was as graceful as the leaves that scattered in a cool autumn breeze, and as precise as a bee pollinating flowers when it came to plucking his own heartstrings- like the flower pinned to Wirt’s blazer.

He anxiously awaited the sweet relief of being in her company, his hands trembling as they struggled to keep clenched about the bouquet he had thrown together, after having been given the okay to take some yellow roses from Mrs. Daniels’ garden.

But Sara wasn’t the same as she was back then.

Ever since she returned from living in Florida, she had taken a liking to the night. Wirt found it unbefitting; a beauty as fine as she belonged in the sunlight, to be bathed in gold so all would be free to know her unadulterated majesty. He missed seeing the way her eyes glimmered underneath yellow rays.

Wirt would always smile sympathetically at the sky, because it was no match for the depth of his own love for his Sara. A love so powerful, and so versatile, that it changed as she grew throughout the stages of life, with her likes, and with the paths she chose to follow. All he could do was follow suit.

“Wirt?” her voice sounded through the air, carried by the breeze and into Wirt’s ears.

Like a song, it made him smile and his heart beat along to the tune. Such a melodic tone she exuded when she spoke…

But it was unlike that he had grown to know. This one faltered as it drew to a close, and when he willed himself to squint at her lips, illuminated just faintly by the setting sun behind her, they trembled. And he scanned her face for any other outstanding signs of change, noting that her brows furrowed into a look akin to pain.

“Hey… what are you doing here?” she whispered as she neared him. Her hands were clenched into fists as though trying to keep something contained. When Sara caught him staring, she tucked them into the pockets of her bomber jacket, and averted her gaze to the ground. “I… told you not to come here after dark… It’s dangerous…”

She wanted to say more, but was rendered speechless when Wirt cleared his throat out of nervousness. She looked up and realized he was clad in a tuxedo, with a coat that was far too long for him and trailed down past his calves. He wore a pair of pin-striped shorts that didn’t quite match, and pale yellow socks that also clashed with the black color of the rest of his attire. The flower on his chest made her heart skip a beat.

“Oh, Wirt… are those… for-“

“-You. They’re… for you.”

“They’re so beautiful.” Sara smiled, her cheeks growing as warm as Wirt’s heart.

Her guard was let down.

It was so hard to keep it up when she was around someone like Wirt- the one who she loved.

Wirt scrambled to fix the arrangement of the homemade bouquet. All the while, Sara frantically tried to wipe the red liquid coating her palms onto the inside of her pockets.

She prayed that that stains would be masked by the night as she pulled them out at last, to be greeted by the warm air surrounding them. Wirt thrust the bouquet into her hands, for fear that if he held it any longer, his death grip on the base of it would snap the stems in the plastic casing.

“The d-dance… I want- I’m here to ask-“ Wirt stammered, his ears hot.

“Oh yeah...” Sara commented, her voice slightly muffled by the petals she pressed against her nose and lips. She had almost forgotten about the dance at the community center.

The roses smelled so sweet, but not as sweet as Wirt did. They didn’t have blood coursing beneath the yellow skin of their petals like he did. They didn’t make her mouth water when she got near them.

For a moment, she wished Wirt and the flowers traded places.

“I didn’t think you would want to go to a dance.” Sara chuckled with a faint heart. “You don’t really like dances…”

It took energy for her to try and coax him out of his proposal. She wanted to accept it just as much as he wanted her to, and she would, if she didn’t know any better. Even in a haze of heat and hunger, Sara knew better than agree to be near Wirt after dark.

“B-but you do.” the persistent poet retorted, clutching his chest. He tried all he could to get that darned pin off of his blazer but to no avail. He fumbled with it, his fingertips grazing the silver metal that mimicked the moonlight they were slowly being swallowed by. “I want- t-to dance with you.” he added absently, too engrossed in trying to remove the pin to filter his words.

Sara could feel herself blushing. She could feel her legs shaking just slightly, unable to contain her happiness. She adored Wirt far too much to be able to handle this gesture without losing her head.

But she didn’t have her head to begin with…

… and she was _hungry_ … so, so hungry.

And her mouth…

… well, it was watering. Even through the darkness, she could clearly see the vein on his neck bulging, a lump appearing underneath his olive skin. In a moment of madness, she imagined how _good_ it would feel to dig her teeth into it. 

Wirt stepped toward her dizzily, the sweetest, gentlest look of frustration showing up in traces on his face. 

“I can’t get it.” he giggled cutely. “Could you help me?”

Sara stepped away as he grew near, her eyes wide with unbridled fear. The world seemed to be in slow motion as she watched Wirt still fumble with the pin.

Her heightened senses made the sound of the metal ripping apart his skin louder than a clap of thunder.

“A-ah- ow!” Wirt whined, wincing. 

Shivers shook Sara to her core. But Wirt advanced forth, forcing her to try and get away from him. She watched the blood move in his skin, pooling up in his cheeks, ears, and chin. She wanted nothing more than to succumb to her urge to feed upon that crimson mead that was leaking ever-so-tantalizingly from his thumb.

“Wirt. Stay back. It’s not safe.” she begged him, holding the flowers out as though they were a weapon.

Wirt raised a brow in confusion, but stopped nonetheless, as he was told. His finger dripped blood onto the green grass below them. Sara bit her lips as she watched it, wanting to dive to the ground like a deranged fool to taste it at long last. How many years had passed that she had been forcing herself to keep Wirt at a distance, depriving herself of what would certainly be the best blood she would ever taste? 

Because it would be from _him..._

…Wirt.

Oh, _Wirt_.

He had _no_ idea.

But she couldn’t do it anymore; the charade was becoming too much a burden to bear. Her hunger was growing more intense the longer she repressed it and the more selective she was about her prey. She was becoming a bit more reckless every day, and it didn’t make matters simpler that Wirt was, too. And no matter how many times she told him to stay away from her after dark, he always found his way back to her hideaway at the football field, underneath the bleachers, unknowingly taunting her with the redness in his face.

“Sara, are you okay? You look… sick.” Wirt murmured sheepishly, letting his hand fall lax at his side.

But Sara couldn’t take her eye off of it, despite her efforts.

“Wirt, I love you.” she spluttered, dropping the bouquet as a spark jolted through her body, because she could hear Wirt’s heart beat so loudly in her ears. How much blood was flowing to his extremities? How _easy_ would it be to latch onto him and take a drink? He probably wouldn’t struggle, and if he tried, she could easily restrain him. But _why_ would she want to cause him harm? “I love you so much and I would love to go to the dance with you. But I can’t. It’s too dangerous. I told you before; I can’t go anywhere after dark, and you can’t be around me.”

No.

She _doesn’t_ want to hurt him.

She isn’t herself right now.

“You love me?” Wirt asked with bated breath. He watched sadly as the flowers fell, their petals being plucked off by the wind to lay to rest on the ground from whence they came.

But he was more concerned with the way Sara was shaking, and sweating, and making her every word a higher pitch than the last as she struggled to speak. He wanted to hold her and tell her it was okay, but he couldn’t very well do that if he didn’t know what _it_ was.

“I don’t understand. Why is it dangerous? Why can’t I be with you, Sara?” his voice did not waver. Sara once again wished that Wirt was a flower as she watched blood rise in his neck and begin to pump faster and faster. “I just want to be with you. I think about you all the time. I can’t get you out of my mind.”

Sara released a shuddering sigh and cast her gaze to the side. They were growing with each passing second. Her eyes were glowing- she could feel them as the evil deep within overwhelmed her and stained them…

… stained them red, like the sunset…

… like the blood she so desired.

She put her hands in her pockets again so she wouldn’t be tempted to grab him, as he- unconsciously- began stepping near her with his arms outstretched to make holding him that much _easier_.

Oh, Wirt.

_You have no idea_.

“Please don’t be scared.”

Sara didn’t dare look up again until she heard him faintly say, _“I won’t be,”_ and no longer detected the sound of his footsteps crunching the crisp grass below.

As her fangs tore their way from beneath her gums, and dribbles of blood trickled down their pearly undersides to pool at the corners of her watering mouth, Sara willed herself to meet Wirt’s eyes. She smiled sweetly, but any smile behind such menacing canines could only be perceived as sinister.

“You can’t be with me because I’m not what you think I am…” she said huskily. Her heart swelled agonizingly as she felt Wirt’s muscles tense and heard his heart murmur. “… I haven’t been since I came home.”

Sara tapped her sharp, dried-blood encrusted nail against her fang to act as an outlet for the adrenaline rushing through her veins. She once again let her gaze trail toward the sky so she wouldn’t have to see the look of puzzlement glinting in Wirt’s doe eyes.

She didn’t wait for him to ask more questions. 

“I’m a vampire. You know, like…” she paused, shrugging her shoulders. “… like Dracula. I don’t remember how it happened. And I didn’t want to tell anybody cause I didn’t really believe it and I thought it would go away or something-”

The more human side of her began to fret over every word she had just spoken, and in a moment of desperation, she wished she could get it all back. She had managed to live so long with this curse. A painful existence, but at least she could be there for Wirt, and her friends, and her mom at some times, even if those times were short-lived.

Now, it was all over.

She would have to condemn herself to the shadows forever, and come around only once and a while to protect her loved ones, like she had planned on doing all along, until she found the cure.

Wirt stayed silent for a long while.

_Too_ long a while, in fact, because Sara’s descent into a maddening fit of hunger was underway.

“What are you thinking, Wirt?” she breathed out, clutching her chest with one hand, and using the other to wipe the sweat from her brow. She couldn’t take it anymore. She was scared, and wanted to run away as fast as she could and find someone to sate her bloodlust that _wasn’t_ her first and only love and the last person on Earth that she wanted to cause harm.

“I’m thinking that I wish you would have told me sooner. But, it’s better than _never_ telling me.” Wirt stated, much more calmly than Sara was anticipating, and that alone was utterly **terrifying**.

When did Wirt get so brave? Sara had no idea. Maybe it was just one of the changes that took place while she was away. Wirt stepped toward her more quickly than she could move away and reached for her shaking hands, holding them tightly. He could feel the wetness of what remained of the blood of her last victim, but was apparently undisturbed by it.

And then, he said something that Sara could have never expected in the million years she was destined to roam the Earth.

“I _thought_ you might be. I mean because of how you’ve been acting.” he explained, looking as queasy as she did, though for entirely different reasons.

She knew about his journey through the woods, but didn’t know what all it entailed… and nobody, not even Greg knew that Wirt’s curiosity frequently got the best of him, and he found himself back over the wall in search of new stories to walk into. Nobody knew that he had met a Vampire in the flesh before, and that was why he suspected Sara was one, too.

But Wirt and Sara loved each other, and no good romance was ever born from the union of two guarded hearts. Wirt would tell her about his travels, and Sara would tell Wirt about her own before the night came to a close.

“Sara, I really think I can help you. And I… I’m really thinking that I don’t want you to do this alone anymore.”

Sara, stunned, kept her lips sealed (or as much as they could be, considering her long fangs made it hard to close her mouth). Her stomach knotted as she digested his words and came to a realization that this _wouldn’t_ be the end of her as she knew herself, nor would it be the end of their relationship.

“Wirt… _please_ don’t tell me that you want me to-“

“-turn me.”

He confirmed her worst fear at that moment.

“ **No way**. That’s _insane!”_ Sara immediately protested, because there was **no way** to put that gently, and she needed something bitter to snap Wirt out of whatever sugary fantasy he was conjuring up in his heart.

She didn’t even understand the logic behind doing something so foolish! So she was sure that Wirt was just ignorant.

This was truly the _worst_ idea he ever had!

“Sara. I want you turn to me.” Wirt reiterated, his voice more commanding this time around. “I know how to fix this. And I’m not going to leave you and I’ll never give up on you. And I want to prove it to you! This way, you’ll know for sure that I’m serious!” 

“Wirt, I believe you! There’s no need to do this.” Sara spat, shaking her head.

She pulled her hands away from him to massage her temples in a sad attempt to calm her nerves. She wanted to say Wirt hadn’t thought this through, but she knew better; all Wirt did was think, and live his life in his head. Who knows how long he had been planning to carry out this scheme?

“No, no…” Sara kept shaking, and found herself pacing back and forth in front of the bleachers, as far away from Wirt as he would let her get. “I need to go… I need to feed-“

“Use me.” Wirt suggested, running back up to where she was walking. “Isn’t that how you’ll turn me? Yeah, you’re supposed to drain the blood, and then give me some of yours. It’s good for both of us! Then you won’t be hurting anyone else.”

“Wirt. This is crazy.” Sara said once again.

But there was no convincing him. 

He was too determined to be with her, and to feel everything she was feeling.  When he set his heart toward something, there was no escaping becoming entangled in its strings.

Sara was in a tough knot to undo.

Wirt took her sudden silence as an invitation to hold her at last. Sara felt relief wash over her in an instant, finding his scent as intoxicating as his blood would be once she took it from him. Wirt was nervous, but his determination wouldn’t let him falter. He nuzzled his nose against her neck before he laid his chin over her shoulder, tilting his head slightly to reveal the soft skin on his own. 

With bright red flames dancing in her irises, Sara locked onto her target.

“A-ah-!” Wirt gasped in pain when Sara’s teeth broke his skin.

But the pain lasted only a few moments; it was as though the softness of his love’s lips made him numb.

Slowly, the blood pooled up in her mouth. She savored its heat on her tongue and the scent of iron wafting into her throat, making her grip on Wirt’s frame even tighter without her consent.

Wirt was feeling dizzy, because his body could produce more blood fast enough to replenish him. He went limp in the Vampire’s arms, and his eyelids fluttered until they became too heavy for him to keep open. Not for one second did he feel like he wasn’t safe, even as he was technically being killed.

Sara and Wirt slunk down into the grass, as slowly as thick molasses. Wirt was falling into a peaceful sleep, teetering on the edge of life and death.

As her hunger was assuaged and her senses came back to her, panic made Sara stop sucking and pull away from Wirt’s neck as quickly as she could, what little blood that remained in him still seeping out in globs that it took a great deal of will power not to lap at.

“Oh my god- no!” she cried.

He felt warm, but she knew that was just because of the heat she had given to him as they held each other.

He was _supposed_ to be cold, and he was _going_ to die. The sweet smile on his pink lips betrayed the danger he was in.

Wirt’s plan had worked in his favor, because Sara would never let him perish. In her stupor, she rolled up her jacket sleeve and dragged her wrist across her own sharp teeth enough to leave a trail of exposed flesh behind. Rivulets of fresh blood trailed down her arm as she pulled Wirt away with her other hand and held her wound against his lips.

“Come on, Wirt… you won.” she wept quietly. “You have to drink... please tell me you’re still here-“

“’M ‘ere-“ Wirt moaned groggily, his eyes still shut, and his brows furrowing, like Sara was trying to wake him up to go to school but he wanted to go back to sleep.

Despite this, he brought his hands up to her arm and squeezed it gently as he obliged. In an instant, the life returned to him his eyes. He opened them, to unveil two pupils the size of the full moon in the sky. But as he finished drinking and the transformation ended a success, they drowned in pools of red, the same color as Sara’s. 

“You’re okay!” she gasped in exasperation, pulling her wrist away from his mouth.

She cupped his cheeks and pulled his face closer to her own, pressing their noses together. She mostly didn’t want him to catch sight of the tears of terror she had shed in that moment that she didn’t know if he was alive or dead, but she craved the comfort of close contact, too. And now she didn’t have to be afraid she would kill him if she got near him.

“Y-yeah!” Wirt grinned goofily, the blood he’d taken from Sara rushing to his cheeks. “We’re both going to be okay…” he closed his eyes, leaning forward just a little, in hopes that his lips would meet Sara’s.

But naturally, her teeth were in the way.

Sara laughed as Wirt planted his lips on her fangs.

Now that she had fed properly, they had begun to retreat into her gums again. It was for this reason that Wirt’s own fangs remained dormant.

“Give it a second.” she told him when, in embarrassment, he had buried his face into her chest and vowed to never try to kiss her again.

She brought her hand to the back of his neck and massaged it soothingly as he laid against her. He was energized, but he would pretend he was still tired if it meant she would hold him and he wouldn’t have to just say so, because even though they loved each other and she would happily hold him as long as he wanted, he still felt too shy to admit it.

“I wish you didn’t make me do that, Wirt.” Sara stated gravely after a few moments.

“But it won’t last long. I’m going to cure us. I know exactly where to go.”

“But _how_ do you know?” she inquired, sifting her fingers through his thick locks of brown hair, unknowingly making it very difficult for him to think and speak coherently.

“I-I’ll tell you later,” Wirt smiled. His heart had finally solidified, but now it was melting all over again. “, after the dance.”

Sara reached down and pressed her hand against his chest, padding it gently until it came into contact with his stubborn corsage. With one flick of her finger, it slid out of the fabric of his shirt. She pinned it to her own, on the outside of her jacket so she could display it proudly.

“Yeah. After the dance.” she whispered, kissing his cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly Wirt has his priorities straight. I AM supposed to be working on B&B. Chapter 6 was supposed to be posted on Valentines day but I'm not even halfway through with chapter 5 so I am posting this instead! I was going to save it until the actual day but I'm super excited and can't wait until then. Every fandom needs a Vampire romance AU okay? I am not posting this in "Poetic Bee" because it is a total AU. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!! IF YOU READ THIS YOU'RE MY VALENTINE SORRY BABE I DON'T MAKE THE RULES. ♥


End file.
